Closures



Dec. 30, 1969 G. A. A. EIGENMANN ETAL 3,486,272

l cLosUREs Filed sept. 29, 1967 2 sheets-sheet 1 Dec. 30, 1959 G. A, A. EIGENMANN ETAL 3,436,272

CLOSURES 2 Sheets-Sheet z Filed Sept. 29, 1967 5 s. MM H VMM H 5 MJ ,FDM .A6/f En AJM! E E Z? a l Y R. G ELL 2 44u. u 4. s a L J on.. 3 M z ,p J

United States Patent O 3,486,272 CLOSURES Gustav A. A. Eigenmann, Kloof, Natal, and Rirrwill S.

Grant, Durban, Natal, Republic of South Africa, assignors to Wonder Door Holdings (Proprietary) Limited, Kloof, Natal, Republic of South Africa Filed Sept. 29, 1967, Ser. No. 671,876 Claims priority, application Republic of South Africa, May 26, 1967, 67/ 3,134; Aug. 30, 1967, 67/ 5,200

Int. Cl. E05d 15/52 U.S. Cl. 49-192 5 Clalms ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The invention provides a closure, such as a door or window, which is pivotable about either of two opposite edges, the closure being provided with hinges at both edges, the hinges being disengageable by means associated with the handle of the closure.

This invention relates to closures such as doors, windows and the like.

A good deal of time is spent by architects in deciding which way a particular door should hang, and in many cases his decision is incorrect for some of the occupants of a building. In addition, it often happens that an occupant wishes to alter the hanging of a particular door permanently or for a particular occasion. The changing of the hanging of a door is a time-consuming operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a closure, the hanging of which can be changed from one side to the other in a very simple manner.

Another object of the invention is to facilitate the hanging of closures such as doors.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a simple and effective mechanism for such a door.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a locking means for a closure in which the closure can be locked on two opposite sides.

The invention provides a closure pivotable about either of two opposite edges including hinges at these edges, each hinge having a leaf for connection to an architrave, and a leaf for connection to the closure, the latter having a cylindrical formation receivable in a complementary slot on the closure, a spring loaded retractable pin being provided through the slot and adapted to enter into a recess in the formation for locking the closure to the particular leaf.

The nature of the invention will be more clearly understood if reference be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a front view of a door embodying the invention, the dotted lines indicating the opening of the door from either side thereof,

FIGURE 2 is a side view, partly in section, of a hingeand-slot arrangement according to one form of the invention,

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the same hinge-andslot arrangement,

FIGURE 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a mechanism for operating a closure of the present invention, and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a hinge according to another embodiment of the invention.

It will be appreciated that although the drawings show a door openable from either side, it may also be openable from either the top or the bottom thereof, the latter arrangement being particularly suited to tail gates of staion wagons and for some cupboards and the like.

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Referring to FIGURE l, a door is provided with four hinges 12 and is pivotable on either side by means of a mechanism as described below with reference to FIG- URES 2 to 4 or by a mechanism as described below with reference to FIGURE 5 or some other mechanism, such as levers or the like. For example, levers may be associated with handle 14 adapted to disengage the leaves of the hinges 12 on either side of the door depending on the direction in which the handle 14 is turned.

However, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, having reference first to FIGURES 2 and 3, a hinge comprising two leaves 16 and 18 has a bullet-formation 20 located on leaf 18, leaf 16 being attached to an architrave 22. A slot 24 in a box 25 is complementary-shaped to the formation and a pin 26 in the slot 24 is spring-loaded by compression spring 28 into the slot. The formation 20 has a recess 30 which is engaged by the pin 26 when the door, and therefore the slot, is located in position. The assembly thus constitutes a hinge and it will be appreciated that all four hinges 12 will be thus constituted. Merely by retracting the pins 26 from the assemblies at one side of the door, the door can be opened from that side. As mentioned above, the retraction of the pins may be achieved by means of levers associated with the handle 14, which, it will be noted, is centrally-located on the door. However, a better system is illustrated in FIGURE 4. Two pairs of Bowden cables 32 are provided, each pair corresponding with the hinges on one side of the door. The inner cables 34 are connected to the pins 26 (as shown in FIGURE 2) at one end and to a boss 35 at their other ends. By means of any suitable mechanism the boss 35 is moved in the direction of arrow 36 when handle 14 is rotated in either direction. The outer cables (or sheaths) 38 of the Bowden cables are xed in sleeves 40, which are slidable in slots 42 in an element 44. A cam 46 is located between the slots 42 and is operable by knob 48 on the door (see FIGURE l). In its position shown in FIGURE 4, the cam 46 allows both sleeves 40 to slide in the slots 42 when the handle 14 is rotated. Thus, the turning of the handle 14 merely pulls both the inner and outer cables with the results that the pins 26 are not retracted at all. The door is therefore locked along both of its vertical edges, and will remain so until the cam 46 is turned one way or the other to clamp either of sleeves in its slot 42. Rotation of the handle 14 will then cause the pins 26 on that side to be retracted so that the door can pivot on the hinges at the other side.

It will be appreciated that this mechanism can be used as a locking mechanism for any type of closure, in which case the slots 24 are not necessary, the pins 26 (or their equivalent) merely engaging in suitable recesses in the architrave. In addition, merely one set of Bowden cables 1s necessary, the cam -being movable between a position in which it clamps the sleeve and a position in which it does not.

An arrangement has been described above in which the spring-loaded pins are replaced by spring-loaded balls. Such an arrangement will become apparent if regard be had to FIGURE 2. The pin 26 is replaced 4by a ball, suitably housed and the cables 34, 38 omitted. The door itself may have suitable orifices at either side to receive handle means, the pulling of which disengages the balls from the recesses on one side. The oriies for the handle means may be covered with a suitable plate or the like.

Referring now to FIGURE 5, the lower portion S0 of the strap of a hinge is provided with a spring-loaded pin S2, the spring 54 being shown through the channel 56. A lug 58 is movable in the channel 56 between a first position (as shown in the figure) in which the pin 52 is located in the upper portion 60 of the strap and a position in the right-angled channel 62 in which the pin 52 is clear of the portion 60 of the strap, thus disengaging theV hinge. This modificationof the invention is particularly suited for windows, cupboard doors, refrigerator doors and the like. The embodiment described above with reference to the irst four gures is particularly suited to doors for houses, oices and the like, and for motor car doors, refrigerator doors, cupboard doors and the like.

We claim:

1. A closure pivotable about either of two opposite edges, including hinges at the two opposite edges, one leaf of each hinge being secured to an architrave, the other having a cylindrical formation connected tothe leaf, a complemental slot in the edge of the closure, the slot having a spring-loaded pin biased outwardly, the formation on the leaf having a recess to receive the pin, each pin being connected to an inner cable of a Bowden cable, the other ends of the inner cables being associated with a handle, the operation of which causes the inner cables to be pulled, clamping means for clamping the outer cables of either set of cables, each set corresponding to the hingeson one side of the closure, and means to change the clamping means from one set to the other.

2. A closure pivotable about either of two opposite edges, including hinges at the two opposite edges, one leaf of each hinge being secured to an architrave, the other having a cylindrical formation connected to the leaf, a complemental slot in the edge of the closure, the slot having a spring-loaded pin biased outwardly, the formation on the leaf having a recess to receive the pin, each pin being connected to an inner cable of a Bowden cable, the other ends of the inner cables being associated with a handle, the operation of which causes the inner cables to be pulled, clamping means for clamping the outer cables of either set of cables, each set corresponding to the hinges on one side of the closure, means to change the clamping lmeansfrorn one set tothe other, or to clamp neither set.

3. A closure as claimed in claim 1, in which the cylindrical formation in cross section defines a segment greater than 180.

4. A closure pivotable'about either of two opposite edges, including hinges at the two opposite edges; one leaf of each hinge being secured to an architrave, the other having a cylindrical formation connected to the leaf; a complemental slot in the edge of the closure, the slot having a spring-loaded pin biased outwardly; the formation on the leaf having-a recess to receive the pin; and each pin having means for being pulled against its spring out of the recess.

5. A closure as claimed in'claim 4, in which the cylindrical formation in cross section defines a segment greater than 180.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,831,850 11/1931 Epton et al 16-147 2,261,146 11/1941 Dow 16--147 2,650,388 9/1953 White 16-147 2,790,992 5/1957 Campbell 16-147 X 2,791,681 5/1957 Dunker et al. 16-147 X 2,806,735 9/1957 Smith 16-147 X 3,105,266 10/1963 Flaith et al.

DENNIS L. TAYLOR, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R, 

